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Today's News - Monday, July 14, 2008

-- ArcSpace takes us to Alsop's The Public, and MAD in Inner Mongolia.
-- Ouroussoff and Andersen take long looks at China's new architecture (and politics) - the good, the bad, and the ugly (both must-reads!).
-- How changes in World Trade Organization rules could threaten city planning.
-- Could proposed changes to Seattle planning rules revitalize or swallow Little Saigon neighborhood?
-- Booth takes on two U.K. eco-town sites: just how green will they be?
-- Q&A with John Todd re: his plan for Appalachia that could be the design model of the future.
-- Some say Foster's plan for eco town on the Bulgarian could be the "biggest mistake of his career."
-- Weinstein on the changing face of sustainable design: it's fast losing its reputation for being "ugly."
-- Colleges need to walk-the-talk - and teach - sustainability.
-- Austin Williams talks about how the profession is being taken over by "box-ticking" and "social policy agendas."
-- Someone who finds plans for the High Line banal: "I'd been hoping for a utopia. Instead, I got sumac" (surely a voice in the wilderness).
-- Voelz Chandler says that after putting "the cart before the horse," Denver finally gets down to creating guidelines for its Civic Center.
-- Cries of "astonishing secrecy" over skyscraper cluster in London.
-- Hume previews AGO and likes what he sees: "This is Gehry as problem-solver, not icon maker."
-- Bayley on a new British school that points the way to a "vibrant and optimistic educational culture."
-- Russell raves about Wright's Martin House remake.
-- Kuma says architects should learn from sushi.
-- RFQ for Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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-- Alsop Architects: The Public, West Bromwich, UK
-- MAD: Erdos Museum, Kang Ba Shi City, Inner Mongolia, China

In Changing Face of Beijing, a Look at the New China: The aura of China’s new architecture has as much to do with intellectual ferment as economic clout...embodies an intense struggle over the meaning of public space...at times terrifying in their aggressive scale, they also reflect...effort to give shape to an emerging national identity. By Nicolai Ouroussoff -- Norman Foster; Paul Andreu; Herzog & de Meuron; PTW; Koolhaas/OMA- New York Times

From Mao to Wow! Kurt Andersen sees China’s true promise in a more enduring spectacle of daring commissions, bravura engineering, and creatively humanistic design...The astounding thing about the glamorous new buildings in Beijing is just how brilliant and original some of them are—dazzlingly, radically excellent. -- Herzog & de Meuron; Steven Holl; Foster + Partners; Koolhaas/Scheeren/Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA); Cecil Balmond/Arup; Paul Andreu; PTW [slide show]- Vanity Fair

Op-Ed: New WTO Rules Could Threaten City Planning: ...proposal on domestic deregulation could have a significant impact on the ability of planning departments to undertake zoning and land use planning activities, restrict signage, and create guidelines and other design-related criteria. Ellen Gould and Andrew Pask examine the implications, using their city of Vancouver as an example.- PLANetizen

Would changes revitalize or swallow Little Saigon? Planners want to tap housing market...some worry the new rules might push out the neighborhood's distinct character and entrepreneurial spirit.- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

So, just how green will the eco-towns be? The plan to build 10 new eco-towns across the UK has been beset by fierce local opposition...But there has been little examination of the towns' green credentials. Robert Booth went to two of the proposed sites to discover how 'eco' they will be- Observer (UK)

Bulgarian eco town 'the biggest mistake of Norman Foster's career', say protesters: 'Green' resort threatens last area of unspoilt coast. Design is sympathetic to habitats, architect says...Black Sea Gardens will include five new hill towns [for] 15,000 inhabitants... -- Foster + Partners; Projects Ltd.- Guardian (UK)

The Visionary Thinking of John Todd: The winner of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge has a plan for Appalachia and it could be the design model of the future...outlines a way to restore the one million plus acres of lands...that have been devastated by surface coal mining... By Paul Makovsky- Metropolis Magazine

Green architecture’s new goal: stylish sustainability: Ecologically friendly designs are shedding an ugly past for a sleeker, more integrated future. By Norman Weinstein -- Rebecca Henn/Celento Henn; James Wines; David Gibney/HDR; Robert Barnstone- Christian Science Monitor

Colleges Should Plan — and Teach — for an Oil-Scarce World: Is your campus an integrated part of the community around it — friendly to pedestrians and affordable to students and staff members? Or is it a destination at the end of a long freeway drive?- The Chronicle of Higher Education

Architects to launch manifesto: ...to protest cultural pressures they say repress architectural creativity. Austin Williams, founder of the "Mantownhuman" manifesto says his profession is being taken over by "box-ticking" and "social policy agendas" [video]- BBC

High Line, Low Aims: ...it has the potential to be the most delightful and unconventional green space in the country...yet I was struck by the banality of the plans unveiled...I’d been hoping for a utopia. Instead, I got sumac. By Sean Wilsey- New York Times

Guidelines crucial for park: Remember Civic Center? Call it the cart before the horse, since having a set of standards as reference might have made the debates over Libeskind's many architectural elements or the historical society's building size a bit less, well, contentious. By Mary Voelz Chandler- Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

Row erupts over 'secret' plan for East End towers: Critics round on ‘astonishing secrecy’ over proposed cluster of skyscrapers in Shoreditch -- Foster & Partners, KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox); Allies & Morrison [image]- BD/Building Design (UK)

Lots of light puts focus on art at remade AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario): This is Gehry as problem-solver, not icon maker...will make all its neighbours look better..."I raised my building to meet Alsop's...I hope he likes it." By Christopher Hume- Toronto Star

There's a lesson in all this: Sterility in school architecture has gone the way of the cane... Westminster, the most impressive of the new wave of academies, has space, light and exciting furniture that all contribute to a vibrant and optimistic educational culture. By Stephen Bayley -- Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM)- Observer (UK)

Wright House, Poised to Fly, Shines After $50 Million Remake: ...Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo ...It's hard to believe a work of architecture so masterful had to be rescued from ruin...It is hard to imagine a more painstaking restoration. By James S. Russell -- Hamilton Houston Lownie; Toshiko Mori- Bloomberg News

Kengo Kuma says architects should learn from sushi: ...attacked the architecture of Frank Gehry and other contemporary architects, and claimed they could learn a lot from how sushi is made..."I think the 20th century is not a good time for architecture."- The Architects' Journal (UK)

Call for entries/Request for Qualifications (RFQ): Architect-Engineer Services for Design of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC); deadline: September 19- Smithsonian Institution

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